Strong quake hits southern Indonesia

JAKARTA, Indonesia 
A strong earthquake hit early Monday in waters off Indonesia's main island of Java, prompting authorities to briefly issue a tsunami warning and sending thousands of residents fleeing from their homes in panic.

There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage from the quake which hit shortly after 3 a.m. Monday (2000 GMT, 4 p.m. EDT).

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a preliminary magnitude of 6.7 and struck 318 kilometers (nearly 200 miles) off Java island's southern coast. It was centered 24 kilometers (15 miles) beneath the ocean floor.

Jaya, an officer at the government's Meteorology and Geophysics Agency, said authorities had issued a tsunami warning, but nearly an hour after the quake hit there were no signs of a wave.

Thousands of people poured out of their homes and ran to high ground, witnesses told El Shinta radio.

Indonesia is located on the Pacific "Ring of Fire," an arc of volcanos and fault lines encircling the Pacific Basin.